Somalia: 5 soldiers killed in suicide attack.

Al-Shabaab suicide attack in Somalia has killed at least five soldiers and wounded one US soldier.

In the village of Jane Abdullah, 60km from the coastal town of Kismayo, a suicide bomber blew up a car packed with explosives near the entrance to a military base.

Muhammad Abdullah, a local security official, told AFP that the vehicle was fired upon as soon as he saw it but failed to stop.

Al-Shabaab claimed responsibility for the attack, claiming that 16 Somali soldiers and four American soldiers had been killed. However, the militants often denied the allegations.

Somalia has been in constant conflict since 2008, while the internationally backed Somali government has been battling al-Shabab terrorists since 2008.

Last August, al-Shabab bombings and shootings at a hotel in the capital, Mogadishu, killed at least 10 civilians and a police officer.

Earlier this month, four al-Shabab militants held in Mogadishu's Central Jail somehow managed to gain access to a cache of weapons and were killed in a fierce clash with security forces.

In August alone, a suicide car bomber killed seven people at a Somali National Army base in Mogadishu.